The concept is intriguing to me. The church is a gospel-formed community of people being gospel-shaped. They have a community-centered understanding of the gospel, which runs counter to the individualistic mindset of most Christians and churches today. I’d like to consider the relationship between the gospel, community and mission more thoroughly. It seems less like the “latest, greatest program” or method, but an attempt to return to the power of the gospel, and the emphases of the gospel.

Tim Chester: The phrase is actually adapted from the world of football (or soccer in the States!). “Total football” was a style of play associated with the Dutch international side in the 1970s.

“Total church” is our way of capturing the idea that church is not one activity in our lives. Church isn’t a meeting you attend or a building your enter. It’s our identity, our community, our family. It’s the context for the totality of the Christian life.

DG: How would you summarize the message of the book?

TC: Total Church argues for two core principles: We need to be gospel-centered and community-centered.

Being gospel-centered means we’re word-centered (because the gospel is a message; it is good news), and it means being mission-centered (because the gospel is a message to be proclaimed; it is good news).

I think most conservative evangelicals are strong on this. But we also need to be community-centered. The Christian community is the biblical context for evangelism, discipleship, pastoral care, social involvement, and so on. That doesn’t mean meetings. It means the shared life of the community.

One of our catchphrases is “ordinary people living ordinary life with gospel intentionality.” It means doing the chores, having meals, watching sports, and so on with an intention to talk about Jesus, to pastor one another with the gospel, and to share that gospel with unbelievers.

DG: At several points in the book, you mention the value of hospitality. Do you see this virtue as lacking in the church today, and is there is an especially significant need for it in the 21st-century church?

TC: Here’s what I think is the key issue. In the book, we tell the story of a young man who invited us to do some street preaching with him. When we said it wasn’t really the way we did things, he clearly doubted our courage and commitment.

We began to talk instead about a whole life lived in mission and community, in which we were always looking to build relationships and always looking to talk about Jesus. By the end of the conversation, he admitted he wasn’t sure if he was up for that.

He wanted evangelism you could do for two hours on a Saturday afternoon and then switch off. Tick. Job done for the week. He didn’t want a missional lifestyle.

I think that’s the issue with hospitality. People want to put church and evangelism into a slot in the schedule. But we need to be sharing our lives with others—with shared meals and open homes. That can be demanding, but it’s also wonderfully enriching.

Polemical Theology, whether in written or verbal form, can quickly descend into some ungodly places. Name calling, anger and refusing to listen to what another actually says are evidence of a lack of love.

Another form of “unfair” dispute is the use of the straw man argument. Here is a good, quick definition:

You can tell that Dr. Roger Nicole & J.I. Packer are such good friends. At times their counsel is so similar. How to engage in theological debate is one such area. Dr. Nicole told us to read our opponents, not only second hand sources, so we might truly understand their arguments.

He applies this to the various proponents of the views of sanctification. It is unfair to argue against something by using either a straw man (which doesn’t exist) or its worst example. You may win the argument, but you defeated a foe that either didn’t exist or rarely exists. It would be like beating the Bad News Bears, yet claiming to be MLB World Series champions.

I see these arguments regularly in books by authors who should know better. Sometimes these arguments are used by men who place themselves in the bounds of either Reformed Theology or Calvinistic soteriology (they embrace the 5 points but not a covenantal view of Scripture or other distinctives of Reformed theology).

For instance, one book I read argued against contemporary worship songs. It did this on the basis of the worst examples of contemporary worship songs. It brought up the most pathetic, insipid, meaningless songs as if they were representative of contemporary worship songs. This author may have convinced many people he was right, but he never dealt with the real deal. Missing were interaction with the contemporary hymns of Townend and Getty, the songs of Matt Redman or Chris Tomlin or any other songs that seek to communicate biblical theology (Sovereign Grace or Indelible Grace would be other examples).

Another highly respected author attacked the charismatic movement on the basis of its worst excesses. There was no interaction with sane, thoughtful charismatics who share his Calvinistic views like John Piper, Wayne Grudem or C.J. Mahaney. All were lumped in the same heretical basket, ready to be tossed out & burned up.

We who understand the doctrines of grace should be more humble & loving in our disputation. We should argument against real people holding real positions. And the best representatives of that position- not the Single A or college team.

Since I’m preaching through Galatians, one of the topics or themes is justification: how we are in a right relationship with God. It is the main idea of the letter since they had fallen prey to false teachers with hetero-gospels.

I thought it would be a good time to list my recommendations for books on the doctrine of justification.

Great Books I’ve Read:

The Doctrine of Justification by Jame Buchanan. This is THE book any serious student of the doctrine must read. I loved this book, and was challenged by this book. He traces the history of the doctrine, then explains the doctrine. There is plenty of historical data (keeping in mind it was originally published in 1867) that helps us gain some perspective on the current deviations from the biblical doctrine. It is rather lengthy, and this may turn off some people.

Justification By Faith Alone by Charles Hodge. The old Princeton theologian tackles the subject thoroughly in this book.

The Future of Justification & Counted Righteous in Christ by John Piper interact with the current attacks on the historical Protestant understanding of justification by faith alone (but that is not alone). Piper does a good job, and a fair job, but they are polemical theology. He is disputing a matter.

Books I Hope to Read Someday:

The Doctrine of Justification by Faith by John Owen. I’ve got this in my Works of John Owen volumes. I’ll get there. He can be a difficult read, but I find it immensely rewarding. As the subtitle reads, he explains it, confirms it and vindicates it as only he can.

Yes, John Piper has another new book out (I’m already behind). It is called Finally Alive, and it explores the biblical doctrine of regeneration, being born again. This is a much needed book since there is so much misunderstanding about what it means, and how it radically affects our lives.

Not sure about that cover. Yeah, I know it is about the leaves blowing as a sign of the wind, and regeneration a sign of the Spirit’s work in our lives. Still … unless you’re already biblically literate it’s lost on you.

Publisher’s Description: When Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘You must be born again’, the devout and learned religious leader was unsure what Jesus meant. It would seem nothing has changed. Today ‘born again Christians’ fill churches that are seen as ineffectual at best, and even characterised by the ‘mosaic’ generation as ‘unchristian’.

The term ‘born again’ has been devalued both in society and in the church. Those claiming to be ‘born again’ live lives that are indistinguishable from those who don’t; they sin the same, embrace injustice the same, covert the same, do almost everything the same.

Being ‘born again’ is now defined by what people say they believe. The New Testament however defines Christians very differently.

“When Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again” (John 3:7), he was not sharing interesting and unimportant information. He was leading him to eternal life… If he does that for you (or if he already has), then you are (or you will be) truly, invincibly, finally alive.” (John Piper)

One of the controversies that has sadly plagued those who embrace Calvin as one of the more astute and faithful theologians concerns the “free offer of the gospel.” Some followers of Calvin, a minority of them, reject the free offer of the gospel. They believe, erroneously, that the gospel is only to be offered to the elect. While listening to a former PCA worship leader lament Calvinism at the recent John 3:16 Conference, he described this strain of Calvinism called hyper-Calvinism.

While preparing for last week’s sermon on Psalm 16, I didn’t find Calvin to be particularly helpful. This is a rarity. But he did say something that should set the record straight on what John himself believed Scripture to teach.

“It would be of no advantage to us for God to offer himself freely and graciously to us, if we did not receive him by faith, seeing he invites to himself both the reprobate and the elect in common; but the former, by their ingratitude, defraud themselves of this inestimatable blessing. Let us, therefore, know that both these things proceed from the free liberality of God; first, his being our inheritance, and next, our coming to the possession of him by faith. The counsel of which David makes mention is the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit, by which we are prevented from rejecting the salvation to which he calls us, which we would otherwise certainly do, considering the blindness of our flesh. Whence we gather, that those who attribute to the free will of man the choice of accepting or rejecting the grace of God basely mangle that grace, and show as much ignorance as impiety.”

Calvin himself holds to the “free offer of the gospel” to all. God truly offers Himself to the elect. Notice how he phrases that- God offers Himself, not just salvation. As John Piper noted in his book, God is the gospel.

Pray with Your Eyes Open by Richard Pratt. A great book by one of my professors that helps you to utilize Scripture in expanding your prayer life. With a study guide included it works with small groups and Sunday School. Or one-on-one discipleship for that matter.

Henry Scougal gets to the heart of nominal Christianity in his book The Life of God in the Soul of Man. This book is foundational for the ministries of such godly men as George Whitefield and John Piper.

“Men are unwilling to quarrel with the religion of their country, and since all their neighbors are Christians, they are content to be so too; but they are seldom at the pains to consider the evidences of those truths, or to ponder the importance and tendency of them; and thence it is that they have so little influence on their affections and practices. Those ‘spiritless and paralytic thoughts,’ as one doth rightly term them, are not able to move the will, and direct the hand. We must therefore endeavor to work up our minds to a serious belief and full persuasion of divine truths, unto a sense and feeling of spiritual things: out thoughts must dwell upon them, till we be both convinced of them and deeply affected with them.”

The nominal Christian “accepts” the doctrines of Christianity, but they make no difference in how they live because they do not love Jesus Christ and the doctrines of Christianity. Their hearts are not moved to worship and obedience.